Car-seal



(No Model.)

L.'A.' YFO'OTB. UAR-SEAL.

No. 552,175. Patented Dec. 31, 1895.

ANDREW 5.5mm". PHOTB-UTNQWASHINGTDNQQ NITED STATES PATENT IFFIcE.

LEWIS A. FOOTE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR-SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 552,17 5, dated December 31, 1895. Application filed $eptem'bar 16, 1895. Serial No. 562,661. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS A. FOOTE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Car-Seals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the class of car-seals in which the seal comprises a shackle portion formed of a strip of frangible sheet metal, provided at one end with a tongue, having formed upon it a spring-hook affording a stop, and provided at its opposite end with a socket containing an abutment to be passed by the stop on the tongue in inserting the latter into the socket, whence it is prevented from withdrawal, and thus automatically locked by the presentation of the abutment to the spring stop. Moreover, my invention relates to an improvement in that variety of the class of socalled automatically-locking car-seals referred to, in which both the shackle and socket portions are formed of frangible sheet metal, and it relates, particularly, to the construction of the socket portion, my object being to provide a novel and simple construction thereof, which shall effectually serve to retain the end of the shackle inserted into it against withdrawal without leaving evidence of tampering with the seal. To this end I have devised the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a broken plan view of the stamped blank ready to be formed into my improved car-seal; Fig. 2, a similar view of the completed car-seal; Fig. 3, an edge view of the same; Fig. 4, a section taken at the line et on Fig. 2 and viewed in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 5, a section taken at the line 5 on Fig. 2, viewed in the direction of the arrow and showing the seal in its locked condition; Fig. 6, a broken plan view of the stamped blank for a modified construction of the socket; Fig. 7, a similar view of the carseal formed from the blank illustrated in Fig. (3; Fig. 8, a section taken at the line 8 on Fig. 7 and viewed in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 9, a view like that presented in Fig. 6, but showing another-modification; Fig. 10, a similar view of the car-seal formed from the blank illustrated in Fig. 9, and Fig. 11 a section taken at the line 11 on Fig. 10 and viewed in the direction of the arrow.

A is the shackle comprising a strip of frangible tin reduced in width toward one end to form a tongue 7*, bent upon itself at 00' near its extremity into a hook-shaped springstop 1". As shown in Fig. 1, the end portion of the tin strip opposite that provided with the tongue 1' is stamped to form the recesses 19 and p of which the former is the shorter and should expand, as shown, toward its junction with the latter to form the offset or shoulder 19 and conform to the shape of the hook 'r", and along the edges of the recesses extend the flanges q g, from the inner ends of which the shackle is widened throughout a portion of its length, which should correspond with the length of the flanges q to afford flanges q q along its opposite edges. To form the socket portion B of the car-seal from the blank shown in Fig. 1 and thereby produce the construction represented in Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive, the recessed extension of the blank is bent upon itself at 00, thereby bringing the flanges q adjacent to the flanges g, which latter are thereupon bent over the flanges q and should be soldered. Thus the socket B is formed securely closed on all sides except at its inner end, where the entrance tfor the tongue 1" into the recess 13 is afforded. The length of the spring-stop r is slightly less than that of the recess 19, so that, after the seal has been applied in its operative position in looking it by inserting the tongue into the socket B at the entrance 2f, the hook r, in being passed through the recess 19 into the recess 19, clears the shoulder p and recoils from its compressed condition in the first recess into the enlarged recess 19 and presents its free extremity to the abutment af-' forded by the shoulder, whereby it is effectually obstructed against any attempt to withdraw it, and the dimensions of the recess p are so nearly those of the hook end of the tongue r that no instrument can be introduced into the socket B as a medium for disengaging the spring-stop from the abutment without so disorganizing the socket as to leave unmistakable evidence of the tampering.

The only difference between the construction thus described at length and that illustrated by Figs. 6 to 8, inclusive, lies in omitting the shackle flanges q, whereby the flanges q are alone depended on for affording the surface at which to solder the socket B.

As will be understood, the width of the blank at the part thereof which is stamped to form the flanged recesses 19 and 19* should be originally as great as indicated in Figs. 1 and 6 by the dotted lines at 1: to compensate for the reduction in width by the bending in stamping out the parts of the socket.

As the construction is represented in Figs. 9 to 11, inclusive, the socket B is formed from a blank having a lateral extension of adequate width on the tin strip to adapt it to be stamped into the shape affording the recesses 19 and p and the abutment 1) between them, and along the edge of the strip opposite that provided with the aforesaid stamped lateral extension is formed a flange To form the socket B, the stamped extension is bent along the line 00 upon the tin strip to bring the flange g at its free edge adjacent to the flange (1 which is thereupon bent over and soldered to it, and the end of the socket opposite the entrance t should also be sealed by soldering.

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A car-seal comprising a shackle of frangible sheet-metal having formed upon one end a tongue provided with a spring-stop and provided upon its opposite end with a socket B formed with the recesses 13 and 19 having the abutment 13 between them, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A car-seal comprising a shackle of frangible sheet-metal having formed upon one end a tongue provided with a spring-stop and having at its opposite end a socket B formed of a longitudinal extension of the shackle having the flanged recesses 19 and p and the abutment 19 between them and bent length wise of the shackle thereon, and flanges q bent over and secured upon the flanges of said recesses, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

LEXVIS A. FOO'ITE. In presence of- J. N. HANSON, J. H. LEE. 

